Jack Campbell ILB Iowa: Scouting Report

Height: 6’5

Weight: 249

Overall

Jack Campbell is a big, athletic inside linebacker in Iowa’s 4-3 defense. In his 4 seasons with the Hawkeyes, he played in 43 games, starting 27 of them. He is an excellent athlete for his size and had a ton of production during his final 2 seasons of his college career.

Pass Game

Campbell was used often in coverage and showed a lot of promise in both zone and man coverage. In zone, he has excellent vision, keeping his eyes on the quarterback and covering a lot of ground with his speed and acceleration. In man coverage, his size and athleticism allow him to match up against both tight ends and running backs out of the backfield and he shows good fluidity on film. He has good ball skills and made a very athletic interception against Ohio State this past season where he read the quarterback’s eyes in zone coverage and high pointed the football over the middle of the field. On blitzed, he has the explosiveness to get in the backfield in a hurry and shows a good bullrush through the interior but if he can develop some pass rush moves, he can be used on designed blitzes much more often at the next level.

Run Game

In the run game, Campbell has the speed and motor to chase down the ball-carrier from sideline to sideline. He is an excellent run and chase linebacker with his quick trigger and burst to the football. He is a very good tackler and does a good job of consistently wrapping up at first contact. At times he shows difficulty getting off blocks at the 2nd level but with his size and strength he can vastly improve with more time and experience. He also needs to be more patient in reading plays. Often on film, he will pull his trigger too quickly or just overrun the play causing him to be out of position and open up running lanes. If he can learn to not waste any steps and better harness his elite athleticism, he can become a dominant run-stopping inside linebacker.

Last Word

Campbell projects best as an inside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme. He has elite size and athleticism at the position and can develop into a very strong starting linebacker in the NFL. He will have some growing pains early in his career with his quick trigger, but once he learns how to better control his speed and explosiveness he can excel against the run. His abilities in pass coverage will be very valuable as well and with his athleticism, he can be a day 1 starter on multiple special teams units.

One-Liner: Jack Campbell has all the physical tools to be a very good inside linebacker in the NFL and with his speed and coverage skills, he can be an immediate starter.

Grade: 6.7 (Solid Starter on All 3 Downs)

Games Watched: 2022 - Iowa State, Ohio State

Team Fits: Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys